Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Lifted by Forte Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Forte Asset Management LLC has increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 128.8% in the 1st quarter, now owning 10,825 shares valued at approximately $2.41 million.
• Insiders, including SVP Deirdre O'Brien, recently sold shares, with O'Brien selling 34,821 shares at an average price of $223.20, reducing her ownership by 20.30%.
• Apple's latest earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $1.57, surpassing estimates, with revenue reaching $94.04 billion—a 9.6% year-over-year increase.

Forte Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 128.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,825 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.2% of Forte Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Forte Asset Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $2.86 on Friday, hitting $227.76. The stock had a trading volume of 42,431,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The stock's 50 day moving average is $212.52 and its 200-day moving average is $212.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.98.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.